Guldize

What it is

Guldize belongs to Cornwall, the south-western county of the United Kingdom, and it is the harvest festival of the Cornish people. The word comes from the Cornish 'Gool dheys', which means feast of ricks, the stacks of grain built in a field after cutting. It marked the finish of the wheat harvest, so it fell near the autumn equinox. People came together for one large meal. The last sheaf, known as the neck, was central to the whole event. Written forms of the name vary: Gooldize, and sometimes Dicklydize or Nickly Thize.

Origins and history

The oldest mention of Guldize that survives is from 1602, when Richard Carew wrote about it in his Survey of Cornwall. Later writers recorded how it was kept. A. K. Hamilton Jenkin described the evening in his book Cornish Homes and Customs. When the neck had been cut, the harvest workers went to the farmhouse kitchen. A crowd larger than the farmer's own household sat down to eat. That reference by Carew is the earliest one the sources give for the festival.

How it is kept

The evening began with Crying the Neck, the ceremony for the final sheaf of wheat. Once it was cut, the neck went to the feast. The last sheaf was made into a corn dolly, and that figure held the place of honour through the night. One custom turned the walk to the feast into a small game. A man was picked to carry the neck and slip into the building unseen. A chosen woman tried to catch him. If she did, she drenched him with water. If he got in without being found out, he was allowed to kiss her.

Food, drink and song

The harvest supper was a solid meal. Workers and the farming family ate broiled pork with potatoes. A second course followed: apple pie, cream and fuggans. Cider and spirits went round the table. Music and group singing came after the food and could carry on until morning. Songs noted from these gatherings include 'Harvest Home' and 'Green Brooms'. Through it all the corn dolly stayed among the company. The whole evening took place indoors, in the farmhouse kitchen, once the field work had finished for the year.

Today and change

Guldize faded as a working farm custom, though the sources do not say when. A revived celebration has been held in Penzance every year since 2008. From 2010 onwards, similar events have been started in several other places around Cornwall. Filming of the 2010 Penzance feast exists, and a video of it is linked from the subject's entry. So the festival is kept today by people in Cornwall, in a form that carries the old name and the old harvest theme into the present.

How Guldize is kept

Harvest workers and the farmer's family, along with a wider company of neighbours, took part. The last sheaf of wheat was cut in the field first, in the ceremony called Crying the Neck. That sheaf, the neck, was then shaped into a corn dolly. One man was chosen to carry it to the farmhouse and get inside without being spotted, while a woman chosen for the task tried to stop him and soak him. Everyone then sat down to a large supper in the kitchen. Singing and music followed, sometimes lasting the whole night.

When and where

Guldize fell at the end of the wheat harvest, which in Cornwall comes around the time of the autumn equinox. The date was set by the field work, not by a fixed day in the calendar, so it moved from year to year. The revived celebration in Penzance has been held annually since 2008.

The custom belongs to Cornwall, in the south-west of the United Kingdom. It was a farmhouse event, held indoors once the harvest was in. Today the best known celebration is in Penzance, and since 2010 other places in Cornwall have held their own versions.

What Guldize means

For the people who kept it, Guldize marked the end of the heaviest work of the farming year. The last sheaf stood for the crop, and the corn dolly made from it was treated as the head of the celebrations. The shared supper and the singing brought the workers and the farming family together. The corn dolly held a place of honour during the night, and the meal closed the season in company.

Questions people ask about Guldize

See also

LughnasadhA Gaelic festival marking the start of harvest with feasts, fairs and mountain walksLammasA harvest festival marking the blessing of the first baked bread from the new wheat cropSamhainA Gaelic festival marking the start of winter with bonfires and ancestor feastsHarvest FestivalAn autumn thanksgiving for the crops, kept in churches and schools across the UK

Good reading and sources

• Guldize on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-10.